At 49, I can say something I never would have said when I was a player, that I'm a better person because of my failures and disgraces.

During the offseason Walton demanded to be traded citing unethical and incompetent treatment of his and other players' injuries by the Blazers' front office. Bird said that if Walton felt healthy enough to play that it was good enough for him as opposed to Lakers GM Jerry West who was hedging his interest in Walton pending a doctor's report. Nate his middle son played basketball at Princeton University but then entered the corporate world and earned his MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

His professional career was significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries. He is the father of current Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luke Walton. The "Big Red-Head" as he was called achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards while leading the Bruins to two Division I national titles.